“Gauri, Gauri. What’s the matter, darling? Why are you crying and why’re you looking so drawn and painfully thin? What’s the problem? Tell me my child. I know that you are in some kind of a trouble. Here, I’ve got the money as requested by you!” She reached into her bag and started groping for the money-purse. It had vanished!
“The money! It’s gone. All of it! I’m sure that I’d kept it here. I think someone has stolen it while I was standing in the other bus which brought us here. It was already full and all of us had to stand for 2 hours in the bus, right up to Pune. That’s when someone has deftly picked my purse!”
Gauri’s expression crumpled into one of abject misery and hopelessness. “I desperately need the money, Mom. Oh, why did you be so careless and lose it? Why? Why? Why?” She started beating her forehead with her hands and wailing.
Her Mom stared at her, perplexed. Surely, no one would cry that much for a missed trip to Mahabaleshwar! Slowly her expression of dismay turned into a stern one as she questioned her daughter.
“Tell me the truth, Gauri. However unpalatable it may be! I’m ready for it. Are you pregnant by any chance? Are you having an affair? Tell me please, you’ve to come clean.”
“Oh Mom. I’ve behaved very foolishly and spent lots of money on acquiring clothes and accessories. In the pursuit of a lavish lifestyle, I’ve run up a huge debt of Rs.10,000/-. My room-mate Kanika has threatened me that if I don’t return her this amount by tonight, I’ll have to…..”
“You’ll have to ‘what?’ Come on tell me. I’m sure I can help you. We’ll find a way out, dear. Don’t be scared or shy. I’m your mother, you can trust me. I’ll not tell anyone else. I promise. This matter will just be between the two of us.”
Gauri couldn’t look her Mom in her eye. She stared at the floor and said in a timid voice. “I’ll have to become an ‘Escort’ tomorrow!”
“Escort? What is that? Wait a minute! You mean to say….” She slapped Gauri hard across her face. Then again and again, wracked by sobs herself.
“Oh, the shamelessness of today’s breed! How dare you, Gauri? Why didn’t I die before I heard your words? So this is what you young girls do in college these days? Better sit at home and do housework! Besides, why can’t you live within your means? You know how hard your Dad is working to give both of you a good education and a secure future. I’m cancelling your admission here at once! You are coming back with me to Mumbai. And why is that bottle of capsules lying there? I hope you weren’t foolishly contemplating suicide!”
She then took her nervous and miserable daughter in her embrace and hugged her fiercely, as if she’d never let her go.
To be continued...
This story was published in Woman's Era magazine in its second issue of August 2012.
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